'Hell's Kitchen' reveals final two chefs

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Russell and Nona will battle it out on next week's season finale of Hell's Kitchen in a bid to win the executive chef job at LA Market and a spokesperson role with Rosemount Estate Winery.

The secured their places in the final following a double elimination on Wednesday night's episode, which saw Trev and Jillian being sent home by Gordon Ramsay.

The first task of the week was to create a fusion dish by combining ingredients from two countries that they would randomly select. Jillian admitted she had never cooked fusion before and was nervous: "I don't cook anything but American food… This is going to be hard!" Nona had to work with Greece and Italy, Jillian had Thailand and Spain, Russell had France and India and Trev was left with China and Mexico. They had 45 minutes to create a dish that was judged by Philip DuBose, the executive chef of Asia de Cuba, Helene An, the executive chef of Crustacean, and Lee Hefter, the executive chef of Spago.

The judges though Trev's effort was a "little bland" and lacked marinade on the meat, while Nona’s mussels were cooked well but there might be too much happening in one dish. They also had words of criticism for Russell's duck fusion dish. Surprisingly for Jillian, her dish was deemed the best with all three judges praising it. Her prize was lunch at Spago with Gordon. "This just proves why I'm still here," she said. "I do have creativity!"

Jillian had another surprise waiting at the restaurant - her family! Gordon joined them for a while before leaving them to catch up. Jillian said seeing her sons had provided her with a "boost of energy" and they were her inspiration. Back at Hell's Kitchen, the other three had to move the excess beds out of the dormitory now there were so few of them left and prepare the kitchen for dinner service. Jillian arrived back and noted that the only person who greeted her was Nona, privately admitting that she wanted herself and Nona to make the final. Meanwhile, tension was flaring between Trev and Russell because Russell was standing over Trev's shoulder as he prepared for the service. "He doesn't even know how to tie his shoes unless somebody helps him," said Russell. "I can't stand these people anymore," said Trev. "I just wish they'd go home."

At dinner service each contestant was given the opportunity to helm the pass and demonstrate their skills of control, inspiration, keeping a check on quality and efficient food flow. First up was Russell, who said the service meant more to him than anything else he’d done in his career. "I'm going to take control," he promised. He makes a good start and managed to catch Chef Scott's deliberate attempt to trick him by serving a pecan salad instead of walnut. He briefly struggled to deal with Trev (who privately said Russell just wanted to throw him under the bus and blame him for everything) but managed to regain control and finish his service.

Nona was next and admitted she was "anxious and nervous". She also made a good start but tripped up on Chef Scott’s deliberate quality control test by not noticing he had served celery mash instead of potato mash. "Nothing escapes your eye," advised Gordon, after pointing out her mistake. Trev was third on the pass and encountered problems immediately when the other contestants failed to respond to his orders. "Nobody respects him which is why everybody is ignoring him,” said Jillian in private. Nevertheless, he persisted and they finally answered. He also successfully noticed Chef Scott’s sea bass instead of halibut quality test. "I'm surrounded by three people who think I can't do this and here’s my chance to prove to these guys I can," he said.

Jillian was the final person to helm the service and Russell joked that she almost gave herself a brain aneurysm with her screaming. However, it seemed to work as the food left the kitchen until she missed Chef Scott's quality test of substituting rib-eye for New York strip. She vowed to be more vigilant and examine everything served, which led to arguments with Trev over the standard of his fish. Trev didn't appear very concerned and eventually Gordon stepped in and told him to get his act together and not screw up Jillian’s service.

At the end of service nobody wanted to be eliminated. Jillian insisted she had done nothing to warrant it, although Trev disagreed and said she didn't run the pass well. Russell said Trev had struggled during service, but Trev called Russell cocky. He also said Nona had been "horrible" during her attempt at the pass but Nona disagreed and said she was working hard for her family. Jillian appeared annoyed at that and pointed out that everyone was working hard for their families: "None of us want to go home."

They returned downstairs where Gordon said he had been assessing them during the service and one person just wasn’t ready to be an executive chef at LA Market: Trev was sent home. "You fought against all odds and your determination never wavered," said Gordon. "Good job. I really mean that."

"I'm feeling disappointed," admitted Trev. "I really overcame a lot at Hell's Kitchen. I took more from the other contestants than I did from Chef Ramsay… I've stood on my own two feet in this kitchen. I really tried to win this thing but ultimately heart and determination didn’t win out over experience."

Gordon said that the other contestants had all earned a right to be in the final but eventually awarded the places to Russell and Nona, meaning that Jillian was eliminated. “You have been a fierce competitor,” he told her. "Don't take that jacket off because you deserve to keep it on."

"I never thought I would make it this far but this experience proved to me that I have what it takes to be a chef," said Jillian. "I got great comments from some world class chefs. I'm the only person who never got put up for elimination in Hell's Kitchen and that says a lot."

She added that she felt like she had earned a spot in the final two but she did the best she could and wouldn’t give up on her dreams.

Hell's Kitchen concludes with its season finale on Wednesday, December 15 at 9/8c on Fox